Flying high - 2025 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante

LAST YEAR Aston Martin gave Ferrari a less-polite version of the Churchillian two-fingered salute by launching its 824bhp Vanquish Coupé a fortnight after Ferrari showcased its 819bhp 12Cilindri, those extra five brake horsepower giving the Vanquish an unbeatable hand in hypercars Top Trumps.

- Mark Dixon

Now, Aston has brought out a convertible Volante version, which shares with its Coupé sibling the title of ‘most powerful front-engined production car in the world’. The underpinnings are, not surprisingly, identical to those of the Coupé that we featured in Octane 259: a twin-turbo 5.2-litre V12, rear-wheel drive and a superfast e-diff. Top speed for the Volante is quoted as 214mph, with a 0-60mph scorch of 3.2sec.

It's a hugely dramatic car, the gaping maw of its front grille more aggressive and definitely less subtle than the 12Cilindri's Daytona-esque treatment. It's notably wide, 2120mm across the door-mirrors (half an inch short of seven feet), and it's long, too, 360mm more than a Vantage Roadster. That said, it never felt unbearably large on the North Yorkshire roads of our test route – although it probably wouldn't endear itself to locals encountered on, say, Cornish lanes – and you quickly acclimatise to the dimensions.